Lake City Rallies To Pull Out 21-17 Victory Over Cheney

Call them the cardiac kids. Call them the comeback kids. Call them a team with a lot of heart. Call them whatever you want, just make sure you call ‘em 4-0.

The Cheney Blackhawks may still be wondering what hit them this morning as the Lake City Timberwolves capped an incredible comeback with two touchdowns in the last 5 minutes to pull out a 21-17 non-league football victory Friday before 700 fans at Lake City High School.

The arrow that pierced the collective hearts of the Blackhawks came with 1:17 to go.

Trailing 17-14 and facing a third-and-6 from the Cheney 18-yard line, the T-Wolves dipped into their bag of tricks.

Senior Aaron Cohen, taking a pitch from quarterback Chad Troxel, found wide receiver Richard Novotny in the left corner of the end zone. Cohen’s pass was a tad short, but Novotny came back and leaped over the defender and made the catch just across the goal line.

“I just wanted to make sure I sold the run to suck them (the defense) in, and I just relaxed and made the throw,” Cohen said. “Just like in practice.”

Cohen saved some adrenalin for the ensuing kickoff, making a big hit on Cheney’s Shaun Hunley at the Blackhawks 29.

Cheney (0-2-1) managed one first down on its final drive, but a quarterback sack by LC senior Ryan Duncan followed by two passes knocked down by senior Josh Jaeger gave the Blackhawks a fourth-and-26 at their own 19-yard line with 28 seconds left.

A final desperation pass was picked off by Jaeger at the T-Wolves 39 and the celebration began for Lake City, ranked No. 2 in Idaho’s A-1 Division II state poll.

Lake City had bounced back from a 17-7 deficit to get within three points with 4:42 to go.

Starting from their own 38, the T-Wolves drove 62 yards in eight plays. The big play of the drive came on a 28-yard pass from Troxel to Novotny to the Blackhawks’ 11.

On the next play, Troxel kept the ball and scrambled around the right end for the score.

The defense then held, setting the stage for the final drive.

“This was a very tough mental game for us,” Lake City head coach Van Troxel said while still drying himself off from his postgame drenching by his players. “There were so many ups and downs. It was by far the most important game of the season for us. We kept fighting and coming back.

“These guys took another step in growing tonight.”

It didn’t look so good early in the game for the T-Wolves.

After a Lake City score on the opening drive, Cheney, led by junior running back Pat Laughlin, moved the ball effectively against the T-Wolves defense.

Laughlin, who had 78 yards on 18 carries in the first half, was the Blackhawks’ offense.

Cheney used a 24-yard field goal by Harley Fausett and a 1-yard run by Laughlin to take a 10-7 lead.

It stayed that way until early in the fourth quarter when the T-Wolves fumbled a punt and the Blackhawks recovered at Lake City’s 45.

Two plays later, Cheney quarterback Pat Stiffler hit wide receiver Brandon Eggart with a 43-yard touchdown pass.

But the Blackhawks’ defense just couldn’t stop the pumped up T-Wolves.

“We didn’t make the plays when we needed to make the plays,” Cheney coach Tom Oswald said. “Give them (Lake City) credit. They made the plays when they needed to.”

Lake City’s offense was led by senior running back Scott Bushnell, who had 90 yards on 15 carries against a big Cheney defense.

Laughlin led the Blackhawks with 96 yards on 24 carries.

Lake City 21, Cheney 17

Cheney -0 3 7 7 - 17

Lake City 7 0 0 14 - 21

LC-Troxel 5-run (Stroh kick)

C-Fausett 24 FG

C-Laughlin 1-run (Stroh kick)

C-Eggart 43 pass from Stiffler (Stroh kick)

LC-Troxel 11-run (Stroh kick)

LC-Novotny 18 pass from Cohen (Stroh kick)

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo